Mandarin: ao, a

I never realised the difference between a, like 阿, and the a sound in ao, like 凹, in Mandarin. I mean, I always know this. I always know how to pronounce a and ao correctly. I just never broke the diphthong and compared the a- with a, until a few months ago.

Briefly, the pronunciations of the two sounds are as follows:

• a (ㄚ): [a]
  The a (ㄚ) in Mandarin is different from the a like ah in English. To make this [a], you have to break the diphthong [aɪ], like I and eye, into separate parts, and elongate the first part, [a], as long as you can, and drop the remaining part.
• ao (ㄠ): [ɑʊ] (the [ɑ] is longer than [ʊ] here)
  This ao sound is different from that ow sound in English, like out and cow. Ow in English is pronounced this way: [aʊ] (Actually, I don’t know if I am 100% correct, the [a] in [aʊ] is a bit palatalized nowadays.) But the pronunciation of ao in Mandarin is [ɑʊ]. I am sure you know how to make these two sounds: [ɑ] (ah) and [ʊ] (the ou in would). So, I think I can leave it to you here. Just make sure the [ɑ] is much longer than the [ʊ].

Ctrl+C or Switch Off the Machine

There are cases that process will not terminate even if you use Ctrl+C. One of the method is to switch the machine off. - quoted from a UNIX talk hand out.

Beautiful | 純粹地，很美麗的一刻

Language: English | 中文

Yesterday morning, when I came back from the supposed-to-be softball match, which was cancelled due to the heavy rain, just in front of a supermarket, I saw a pair of people walking together, hand in hand, father and son apparently.

I saw they have smile on their faces. The son looked to the father while walking, and the father gave him a confirming look, smiling. I could see joy in their eyes. They way they walked. The way they held their hands. It was amazing. That was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen that done by people.

It seemed to me that they were going to the cinema. So, I decided to follow them instead of heading home. I wanted to see this. And, yes, they entered the cinema, straight to counter, and I saw the father buy a couple of tickets.

I don’t know them. I’m not from India. But, I didn’t know why. I was really happy seeing this. I felt happy for them. I loved the atmosphere. It’s simply happiness. One of the best scene I had ever seen ... so beautiful.

禮拜天早上，本來要比賽的。搭車搭到一半，隊長打電話來告訴我比賽取消了。YES！這樣就多了很多時間給我趕功課了；還能把 MLB 季後賽給看完呢～ (雖然事實是，最後我是在床上睡了幾個小時，彌補我先前寫了一晚 LISP 的身心疲憊)

回家的路上，在我家樓下的超市前，看到一對父子，應該就是父子吧，手牽著手一起。他們的臉上充滿著笑容。家人在一起的那種笑容。走著走著的時候，兒子看了他爸爸一下，爸爸給了他回應的眼光。他們歡欣地笑著，眼睛咪著，一起手牽著手，走向前面……

我想，他們是要去電影院吧。我決定跟著他們。他們進電影院了，我也趕緊推門進去。進去後，父子一起，走到售票員那邊。爸爸買了兩張電影票……

那一刻，不，這整個過程裡，我看到了幸福。我不認識他們，我也不是從印度來的，可是，不知道為什麼，我就是有那種感覺……我覺得，很單純地，很開心。我覺得我們是聯繫在一起的，那種人與人間最簡單的聯繫。這一刻，這整個周圍，都充滿了單純的快樂與幸福……

我好開心。我好滿足……父親與孩子間，人與人間，彼此滿足這最簡單的需求，彼此追求這最簡單而又最真實的目標：快樂……這，真的是很‧美。

Yesterday morning, when I came back from the supposed-to-be softball match, which was cancelled due to the heavy rain, just in front of a supermarket, I saw a pair of people walking together, hand in hand, father and son apparently.

I saw they have smile on their faces. The son looked to the father while walking, and the father gave him a confirming look, smiling. I could see joy in their eyes. They way they walked. The way they held their hands. It was amazing. That was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen that done by people.

It seemed to me that they were going to the cinema. So, I decided to follow them instead of heading home. I wanted to see this. And, yes, they entered the cinema, straight to counter, and I saw the father buy a couple of tickets.

I don’t know them. I’m not from India. But, I didn’t know why. I was really happy seeing this. I felt happy for them. I loved the atmosphere. It’s simply happiness. One of the best scene I had ever seen ... so beautiful.